Applicability of policies for wireless communication

ABSTRACT

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for selecting policies for routing of data traffic. Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication by a user-equipment (UE). The method generally includes selecting at least one policy for routing of data traffic to a network, wherein the policy comprise an access network discovery and selection policy (ANDSP) if the UE has the ANDSP provisioned regardless of whether the UE is registered to evolved packet core (EPC) or fifth-generation core network (5GCN), and communicating the data traffic to the network based on the selection.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/691,517, filed Jun. 28, 2018, which is expresslyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to a wirelesscommunication system, and more particularly, to selection of policiesfor routing of data traffic via the wireless communication system.

Description of Related Art

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,broadcasts, etc. These systems may employ multiple-access technologiescapable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharingavailable system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power).Examples of such multiple-access systems include 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTEAdvanced (LTE-A) systems, code division multiple access (CDMA) systems,time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency divisionmultiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multipleaccess (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code divisionmultiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

In some examples, a wireless multiple-access communication system mayinclude a number of base stations (BSs) that each can simultaneouslysupport communication for multiple communication devices, otherwiseknown as user equipment (UEs). In LTE or LTE-A network, a set of one ormore BSs may define an eNodeB (eNB). In other examples (e.g., in a nextgeneration, new radio (NR), or 5G network), a wireless multiple accesscommunication system may include a number of distributed units (DUs)(e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smartradio heads (SRHs), transmission reception points (TRPs), etc.) incommunication with a number of central units (CUs) (e.g., central nodes(CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.), where a set of one or moredistributed units, in communication with a central unit, may define anaccess node (e.g., a NR BS, a NR NB, a network node, a 5G NB, a nextgeneration NB (gNB), etc.). A BS or DU may communicate with a set of UEson downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a base station or toa UE) and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to a BS orDU).

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in varioustelecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enablesdifferent wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national,regional, and even global level. NR (e.g., 5G radio access) is anexample of an emerging telecommunication standard. NR is a set ofenhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by 3GPP. It isdesigned to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improvingspectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use ofnew spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards usingOFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and on the uplink(UL) as well as support beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues toincrease, there exists a need for further improvements in NR and LTEtechnology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to othermulti-access technologies and the telecommunication standards thatemploy these technologies.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have severalaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressedby the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly.After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading thesection entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how thefeatures of this disclosure provide advantages that include improvedcommunications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques forselecting policies for routing of data traffic.

Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication by auser-equipment (UE). The method generally includes selecting at leastone policy for routing of data traffic to a network, wherein the policycomprise an access network discovery and selection policy (ANDSP) if theUE has the ANDSP provisioned regardless of whether the UE is registeredto evolved packet core (EPC) or fifth-generation core network (5GCN),and communicating the data traffic to the network based on theselection.

Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. Theapparatus generally includes a processing system configured to select atleast one policy for routing of data traffic to a network, wherein thepolicy comprise an ANDSP if the apparatus has the ANDSP provisionedregardless of whether the apparatus is registered to EPC or 5GCN, and atransceiver configured to communicate the data traffic to the networkbased on the selection.

Certain aspects provide a computer-readable medium having instructionsstored thereon to cause an apparatus to select at least one policy forrouting of data traffic to a network, wherein the policy comprise anANDSP if the apparatus has the ANDSP provisioned regardless of whetherthe apparatus is registered to EPC or 5GCN, and communicate the datatraffic to the network based on the selection.

Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. Theapparatus generally includes means for selecting at least one policy forrouting of data traffic to a network, wherein the policy comprise anANDSP if the apparatus has the ANDSP provisioned regardless of whetherthe apparatus is registered to EPC or 5GCN, and means for communicatingthe data traffic to the network based on the selection.

Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer readablemediums, and processing systems, as substantially described herein withreference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description,briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some ofwhich are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted,however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typicalaspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be consideredlimiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equallyeffective aspects.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exampletelecommunications system, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example logical architectureof a distributed radio access network (RAN), in accordance with certainaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example physical architecture of adistributed RAN, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of anexample base station (BS) and user equipment (UE), in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing examples for implementing a communicationprotocol stack, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a downlink-centric subframe, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an uplink-centric subframe, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wirelesscommunication by a user-equipment (UE), in accordance with certainaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a communications device that may include variouscomponents configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosedherein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspectmay be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specificrecitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processingsystems, and computer readable mediums for selecting wirelesscommunication policies for routing data traffic.

The following description provides examples, and is not limiting of thescope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit,substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. Forinstance, the methods described may be performed in an order differentfrom that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, orcombined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may becombined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may beimplemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspectsset forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intendedto cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. Itshould be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed hereinmay be embodied by one or more elements of a claim. The word “exemplary”is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, orillustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication networks such as LTE, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA andother networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such asUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includesWideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 coversIS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement aradio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g. 5GRA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA andE-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). NRis an emerging wireless communications technology under development inconjunction with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). 3GPP Long TermEvolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are releases of UMTS that useE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described indocuments from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from anorganization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). Thetechniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks andradio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networksand radio technologies. For clarity, while aspects may be describedherein using terminology commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wirelesstechnologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in othergeneration-based communication systems, such as 5G and later, includingNR technologies.

Example Wireless Communications System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network 100 in which aspects ofthe present disclosure may be performed. For example, the wirelessnetwork 100 may be a new radio (NR) or 5G network. A UE 120 may beconfigured for enhanced machine type communications (eMTC). The UE 120may be considered a low cost device, low cost UE, eMTC device, and/oreMTC UE. The UE 120 can be configured to support higher bandwidth and/ordata rates (e.g., higher than 1 MHz). The UE 120 may be configured witha plurality of narrowband regions (e.g., 24 resource blocks (RBs) or 96RBs). The UE 120 may receive a resource allocation, from a BS 110,allocating frequency hopped resources within a system bandwidth for theUE 120 to monitor and/or transmit on. The resource allocation canindicate non-contiguous narrowband frequency resources for uplinktransmission in at least one subframe. The resource allocation mayindicate frequency resources are not contained within a bandwidthcapability of the UE to monitor for downlink transmission. The UE 120may determine, based on the resource allocation, different narrowbandthan the resources indicated in the resource allocation from the BS 110for uplink transmission or for monitoring. The resource allocationindication (e.g., such as that included in the downlink controlinformation (DCI)) may include a set of allocated subframes, frequencyhopping related parameters, and an explicit resource allocation on thefirst subframe of the allocated subframes. The frequency hopped resourceallocation on subsequent subframes are obtained by applying thefrequency hopping procedure based on the frequency hopping relatedparameters (which may also be partly included in the DCI and configuredpartly through radio resource control (RRC) signaling) starting from theresources allocated on the first subframe of the allocated subframes.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the wireless network 100 may include a numberof BSs 110 and other network entities. A BS may be a station thatcommunicates with UEs. Each BS 110 may provide communication coveragefor a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer toa coverage area of a Node B and/or a NB subsystem serving this coveragearea, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems,the term “cell” and NB, next generation NB (gNB), 5G NB, access point(AP), BS, NR BS, or transmission reception point (TRP) may beinterchangeable. In some examples, a cell may not necessarily bestationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according tothe location of a mobile BS. In some examples, the BSs may beinterconnected to one another and/or to one or more other BSs or networknodes (not shown) in the wireless network 100 through various types ofbackhaul interfaces such as a direct physical connection, a virtualnetwork, or the like using any suitable transport network.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a givengeographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radioaccess technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. ARAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface,etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a frequencychannel, a tone, a subband, a subcarrier, etc. Each frequency maysupport a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoidinterference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases,NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, afemto cell, and/or other types of cell. A macro cell may cover arelatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius)and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. Apico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell maycover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allowrestricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g.,UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home,etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS fora pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell maybe referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in FIG.1, the BSs 110 a, 110 b and 110 c may be macro BSs for the macro cells102 a, 102 b and 102 c, respectively. The BS 110 x may be a pico BS fora pico cell 102 x. The BSs 110 y and 110 z may be femto BS for the femtocells 102 y and 102 z, respectively. A BS may support one or multiple(e.g., three) cells.

The wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relaystation is a station that receives a transmission of data and/or otherinformation from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and sends atransmission of the data and/or other information to a downstreamstation (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be a UE thatrelays transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in FIG. 1, arelay station 110 r may communicate with the BS 110 a and a UE 120 r inorder to facilitate communication between the BS 110 a and the UE 120 r.A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay, etc.

The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includesBSs of different types, e.g., macro BS, pico BS, femto BS, relays, etc.These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels,different coverage areas, and different impact on interference in thewireless network 100. For example, a macro BS may have a high transmitpower level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereas pico BS, femto BS, and relays mayhave a lower transmit power level (e.g., 1 Watt).

The wireless network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronousoperation. For synchronous operation, the BSs may have similar frametiming, and transmissions from different BSs may be approximatelyaligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the BSs may have differentframe timing, and transmissions from different BSs may not be aligned intime. The techniques described herein may be used for both synchronousand asynchronous operation.

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and providecoordination and control for these BSs. The network controller 130 maycommunicate with the BSs 110 via a backhaul. The BSs 110 may alsocommunicate with one another, for example, directly or indirectly viawireless or wireline backhaul.

The UEs 120 (e.g., 120 x, 120 y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout thewireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE mayalso be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal,a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), acellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), awireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, alaptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station,a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, anultrabook, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometricsensor/device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, smart clothing,smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, asmart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, avideo device, a satellite radio, etc.), a vehicular component or sensor,a smart meter/sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a globalpositioning system device, or any other suitable device that isconfigured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. Some UEs maybe considered evolved or machine-type communication (MTC) devices orevolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example,robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, locationtags, etc., that may communicate with a BS, another device (e.g., remotedevice), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example,connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such asInternet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communicationlink. Some UEs may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices ornarrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desiredtransmissions between a UE and a serving BS, which is a BS designated toserve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A finely dashed line withdouble arrows indicates interfering transmissions between a UE and a BS.

Certain wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrierfrequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDMpartition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers,which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarriermay be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent inthe frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. Thespacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total numberof subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. Forexample, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15 kHz and the minimumresource allocation (e.g., an RB) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz).Consequently, the nominal FFT size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 megahertz (MHz),respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned intosubbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resourceblocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 subbands for system bandwidthof 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz, respectively.

NR may utilize OFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and includesupport for half-duplex operation using TDD. A single component carrierbandwidth of 100 MHz may be supported. NR resource blocks may span 12sub-carriers with a sub-carrier bandwidth of 75 kHz over a 0.1 msduration. Each radio frame may consist of two half frames, each halfframe consisting of 5 subframes, with a length of 10 ms. Consequently,each subframe may have a length of 1 ms. Each subframe may indicate alink direction (i.e., DL or UL) for data transmission and the linkdirection for each subframe may be dynamically switched. Each subframemay include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL control data. UL and DLsubframes for NR may be as described in more detail below with respectto FIGS. 6 and 7. Beamforming may be supported and beam direction may bedynamically configured. MIMO transmissions with precoding may also besupported. MIMO configurations in the DL may support up to 8 transmitantennas with multi-layer DL transmissions up to 8 streams and up to 2streams per UE. Multi-layer transmissions with up to 2 streams per UEmay be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells may be supported with upto 8 serving cells.

In LTE, the basic transmission time interval (TTI) or packet duration isthe 1 subframe. In NR, a subframe is still 1 ms, but the basic TTI isreferred to as a slot. A subframe contains a variable number of slots(e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, . . . slots) depending on the tone-spacing (e.g.,15, 30, 60, 120, 240 . . . kHz).

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, whereina scheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for communicationamong some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell.The scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning,reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinateentities. That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entitiesutilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity. BSs are not theonly entities that may function as a scheduling entity. That is, in someexamples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity, scheduling resourcesfor one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). Inthis example, the UE is functioning as a scheduling entity, and otherUEs utilize resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communication. AUE may function as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network,and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh network example, UEs may optionallycommunicate directly with one another in addition to communicating withthe scheduling entity.

Thus, in a wireless communication network with a scheduled access totime-frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2Pconfiguration, and a mesh configuration, a scheduling entity and one ormore subordinate entities may communicate utilizing the scheduledresources.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example logical architecture of a distributedradio access network (RAN) 200, which may be implemented in the wirelesscommunication system illustrated in FIG. 1. A 5G access node 206 mayinclude an access node controller (ANC) 202. The ANC 202 may be acentral unit (CU) of the distributed RAN 200. The backhaul interface tothe next generation core network (NG-CN) 204 may terminate at the ANC202. The backhaul interface to neighboring next generation access nodes(NG-ANs) 210 may terminate at the ANC 202. The ANC 202 may include oneor more TRPs 208 (which may also be referred to as BSs, NR BSs, gNBs, orsome other term).

The TRPs 208 may be a DU. The TRPs may be connected to one ANC (ANC 202)or more than one ANC (not illustrated). For example, for RAN sharing,radio as a service (RaaS), and service specific AND deployments, the TRP208 may be connected to more than one ANC. A TRP may include one or moreantenna ports. The TRPs may be configured to individually (e.g., dynamicselection) or jointly (e.g., joint transmission) serve traffic to a UE.

The logical architecture of the distributed RAN 200 may supportfronthauling solutions across different deployment types. For example,the logical architecture may be based on transmit network capabilities(e.g., bandwidth, latency, and/or jitter). The logical architecture mayshare features and/or components with LTE. The NG-AN 210 may supportdual connectivity with NR. The NG-AN 210 may share a common fronthaulfor LTE and NR. The logical architecture may enable cooperation betweenand among TRPs 208. For example, cooperation may be preset within a TRPand/or across TRPs via the ANC 202. An inter-TRP interface may bepresent.

The logical architecture of the distributed RAN 200 may support adynamic configuration of split logical functions. As will be describedin more detail with reference to FIG. 5, the Radio Resource Control(RRC) layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio LinkControl (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical(PHY) layers may be adaptably placed at the DU or CU (e.g., TRP or ANC,respectively).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example physical architecture of a distributed RAN300, according to aspects of the present disclosure. A centralized corenetwork unit (C-CU) 302 may host core network functions. The C-CU 302may be centrally deployed. C-CU functionality may be offloaded (e.g., toadvanced wireless services (AWS)), in an effort to handle peak capacity.

A centralized RAN unit (C-RU) 304 may host one or more ANC functions.The C-RU 304 may host core network functions locally. The C-RU 304 mayhave distributed deployment. The C-RU 304 may be closer to the networkedge.

A DU 306 may host one or more TRPs (e.g., an edge node (EN), an edgeunit (EU), a radio head (RH), a smart radio head (SRH), or the like).The DU may be located at edges of the network with radio frequency (RF)functionality.

FIG. 4 illustrates example components of the BS 110 and UE 120illustrated in FIG. 1, which may be used to implement aspects of thepresent disclosure for frequency hopping for large bandwidthallocations. For example, antennas 452, Tx/Rx 222, processors 466, 458,464, and/or controller/processor 480 of the UE 120 and/or antennas 434,processors 460, 420, 438, and/or controller/processor 440 of the BS 110may be used to perform the operations described herein.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a design of a BS 110 and a UE 120, whichmay be one of the BSs and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. For a restrictedassociation scenario, the BS 110 may be the macro BS 110 c in FIG. 1,and the UE 120 may be the UE 120 y. The BS 110 may also be BS of someother type. The BS 110 may be equipped with antennas 434 a through 434t, and the UE 120 may be equipped with antennas 452 a through 452 r.

At the BS 110, a transmit processor 420 may receive data from a datasource 412 and control information from a controller/processor 440. Thecontrol information may be for the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH),Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQIndicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH),etc. The data may be for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH),etc. The processor 420 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) thedata and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols,respectively. The processor 420 may also generate reference symbols,e.g., for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signal (CRS). Atransmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 430 mayperform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, thecontrol symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and mayprovide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs) 432 a through 432t. Each modulator 432 may process a respective output symbol stream(e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator432 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, andupconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal.Downlink signals from modulators 432 a through 432 t may be transmittedvia the antennas 434 a through 434 t, respectively.

At the UE 120, the antennas 452 a through 452 r may receive the downlinksignals from the BS 110 and may provide received signals to thedemodulators (DEMODs) 454 a through 454 r, respectively. Eachdemodulator 454 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, anddigitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Eachdemodulator 454 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM,etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 456 may obtainreceived symbols from all the demodulators 454 a through 454 r, performMIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and providedetected symbols. A receive processor 458 may process (e.g., demodulate,deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data forthe UE 120 to a data sink 460, and provide decoded control informationto a controller/processor 480.

On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmit processor 464 may receive andprocess data (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) froma data source 462 and control information (e.g., for the Physical UplinkControl Channel (PUCCH) from the controller/processor 480. The transmitprocessor 464 may also generate reference symbols for a referencesignal. The symbols from the transmit processor 464 may be precoded by aTX MIMO processor 466 if applicable, further processed by thedemodulators 454 a through 454 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), andtransmitted to the BS 110. At the BS 110, the uplink signals from the UE120 may be received by the antennas 434, processed by the modulators432, detected by a MIMO detector 436 if applicable, and furtherprocessed by a receive processor 438 to obtain decoded data and controlinformation sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 438 may providethe decoded data to a data sink 439 and the decoded control informationto the controller/processor 440.

The controllers/processors 440 and 480 may direct the operation at thebase station 110 and the UE 120, respectively. The processor 440 and/orother processors and modules at the BS 110 may perform or direct, e.g.,the execution of various processes for the techniques described herein.The processor 480 and/or other processors and modules at the UE 120 mayalso perform or direct, e.g., the execution of the functional blocksillustrated in FIG. 8, and/or other processes for the techniquesdescribed herein. The processor 440 and/or other processors and modulesat the BS 110 may also perform or direct, e.g., the execution of thefunctional blocks illustrated in FIG. 10, and/or other processes for thetechniques described herein. The memories 442 and 482 may store data andprogram codes for the BS 110 and the UE 120, respectively. A scheduler444 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/oruplink.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram 500 showing examples for implementing acommunications protocol stack, according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. The illustrated communications protocol stacks may beimplemented by devices operating in a in a 5G system (e.g., a systemthat supports uplink-based mobility). Diagram 500 illustrates acommunications protocol stack including a Radio Resource Control (RRC)layer 510, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer 515, a RadioLink Control (RLC) layer 520, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer 525,and a Physical (PHY) layer 530. In various examples the layers of aprotocol stack may be implemented as separate modules of software,portions of a processor or ASIC, portions of non-collocated devicesconnected by a communications link, or various combinations thereof.Collocated and non-collocated implementations may be used, for example,in a protocol stack for a network access device (e.g., ANs, CUs, and/orDUs) or a UE.

A first option 505-a shows a split implementation of a protocol stack,in which implementation of the protocol stack is split between acentralized network access device (e.g., an ANC 202 in FIG. 2) anddistributed network access device (e.g., DU 208 in FIG. 2). In the firstoption 505-a, an RRC layer 510 and a PDCP layer 515 may be implementedby the central unit, and an RLC layer 520, a MAC layer 525, and a PHYlayer 530 may be implemented by the DU. In various examples the CU andthe DU may be collocated or non-collocated. The first option 505-a maybe useful in a macro cell, micro cell, or pico cell deployment.

A second option 505-b shows a unified implementation of a protocolstack, in which the protocol stack is implemented in a single networkaccess device (e.g., access node (AN), new radio base station (NR BS), anew radio Node-B (NR NB), a network node (NN), or the like.). In thesecond option, the RRC layer 510, the PDCP layer 515, the RLC layer 520,the MAC layer 525, and the PHY layer 530 may each be implemented by theAN. The second option 505-b may be useful in a femto cell deployment.

Regardless of whether a network access device implements part or all ofa protocol stack, a UE may implement an entire protocol stack (e.g., theRRC layer 510, the PDCP layer 515, the RLC layer 520, the MAC layer 525,and the PHY layer 530).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example format of a DL-centric subframe600. The DL-centric subframe 600 may include a control portion 602. Thecontrol portion 602 may exist in the initial or beginning portion of theDL-centric subframe 600. The control portion 602 may include variousscheduling information and/or control information corresponding tovarious portions of the DL-centric subframe 600. In some configurations,the control portion 602 may be a physical DL control channel (PDCCH), asindicated in FIG. 6. The DL-centric subframe 600 may also include a DLdata portion 604. The DL data portion 604 may sometimes be referred toas the payload of the DL-centric subframe 600. The DL data portion 604may include the communication resources utilized to communicate DL datafrom the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS) to the subordinate entity(e.g., UE). In some configurations, the DL data portion 604 may be aphysical DL shared channel (PDSCH).

The DL-centric subframe 600 may also include a common UL portion 606.The common UL portion 606 may sometimes be referred to as an UL burst, acommon UL burst, and/or various other suitable terms. The common ULportion 606 may include feedback information corresponding to variousother portions of the DL-centric subframe. For example, the common ULportion 606 may include feedback information corresponding to thecontrol portion 602. Non-limiting examples of feedback information mayinclude an ACK signal, a NACK signal, a HARQ indicator, and/or variousother suitable types of information. The common UL portion 606 mayinclude additional or alternative information, such as informationpertaining to random access channel (RACH) procedures, schedulingrequests (SRs), and various other suitable types of information. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, the end of the DL data portion 604 may beseparated in time from the beginning of the common UL portion 606. Thistime separation may sometimes be referred to as a gap, a guard period, aguard interval, and/or various other suitable terms. This separationprovides time for the switch-over from DL communication (e.g., receptionoperation by the subordinate entity (e.g., UE)) to UL communication(e.g., transmission by the subordinate entity (e.g., UE)). One ofordinary skill in the art will understand that the foregoing is merelyone example of a DL-centric subframe and alternative structures havingsimilar features may exist without necessarily deviating from theaspects described herein.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example format of an UL-centric subframe700. The UL-centric subframe 700 may include a control portion 702. Thecontrol portion 702 may exist in the initial or beginning portion of theUL-centric subframe 700. The control portion 702 in FIG. 7 may besimilar to the control portion 602 described above with reference toFIG. 6. The UL-centric subframe 700 may also include an UL data portion704. The UL data portion 704 may sometimes be referred to as the payloadof the UL-centric subframe 700. The UL portion may refer to thecommunication resources utilized to communicate UL data from thesubordinate entity (e.g., UE) to the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS).In some configurations, the control portion 702 may be a PDCCH.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the end of the control portion 702 may beseparated in time from the beginning of the UL data portion 704. Thistime separation may sometimes be referred to as a gap, guard period,guard interval, and/or various other suitable terms. This separationprovides time for the switch-over from DL communication (e.g., receptionoperation by the scheduling entity) to UL communication (e.g.,transmission by the scheduling entity). The UL-centric subframe 700 mayalso include a common UL portion 706. The common UL portion 706 in FIG.7 may be similar to the common UL portion 706 described above withreference to FIG. 7. The common UL portion 706 may additional oralternative include information pertaining to channel quality indicator(CQI), sounding reference signals (SRSs), and various other suitabletypes of information. One of ordinary skill in the art will understandthat the foregoing is merely one example of an UL-centric subframe 700and alternative structures having similar features may exist withoutnecessarily deviating from the aspects described herein.

In some circumstances, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) maycommunicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-worldapplications of such sidelink communications may include public safety,proximity services, UE-to-network relaying, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)communications, Internet-of-Everything (IoE) communications, IoTcommunications, mission-critical mesh, and/or various other suitableapplications. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signalcommunicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to anothersubordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying that communicationthrough the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even though thescheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and/or controlpurposes. In some examples, the sidelink signals may be communicatedusing a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, whichtypically use an unlicensed spectrum).

A UE may operate in various radio resource configurations, including aconfiguration associated with transmitting pilots using a dedicated setof resources (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) dedicated state,etc.) or a configuration associated with transmitting pilots using acommon set of resources (e.g., an RRC common state, etc.). Whenoperating in the RRC dedicated state, the UE may select a dedicated setof resources for transmitting a pilot signal to a network. Whenoperating in the RRC common state, the UE may select a common set ofresources for transmitting a pilot signal to the network. In eithercase, a pilot signal transmitted by the UE may be received by one ormore network access devices, such as an AN, or a DU, or portionsthereof. Each receiving network access device may be configured toreceive and measure pilot signals transmitted on the common set ofresources, and also receive and measure pilot signals transmitted ondedicated sets of resources allocated to the UEs for which the networkaccess device is a member of a monitoring set of network access devicesfor the UE. One or more of the receiving network access devices, or a CUto which receiving network access device(s) transmit the measurements ofthe pilot signals, may use the measurements to identify serving cellsfor the UEs, or to initiate a change of serving cell for one or more ofthe UEs.

Example Techniques for Applying Wireless Communication Policies

In an evolved packet system (EPS), a user-equipment (UE) may beprovisioned with configuration parameters via Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)Device Management (DM), universal subscriber identity module (USIM) orother implementation specific means. In a fifth-generation system (5GS),the System Aspects Working Group 2 (SA2) architecture has defined twotypes of UE policies, the UE route selection policy (URSP) and theaccess network discovery and selection policy (ANDSP) which aredelivered to the UE over non-access stratum (NAS) signaling. While theapplicability of some of the configuration parameters provided by thesepolicies are confined to one of EPS and 5GS and some of them apply toboth systems, there are a number of the configuration parameters forwhich applicability and expected UE behavior upon inter-system change iscurrently not clearly defined.

The ANDSP may be used by the UE for selecting a non-third generationpartnership project (non-3GPP) access network. The ANDSP may includeonly rules that aid the UE in selecting a wireless local area network(WLAN) access network. The set of parameters that may be included inWLAN selection policy (WLANSP) rules in the ANDSP may be the same asthat which may be included in WLANSP rules in an access networkdiscovery and selection function (ANDSF) for EPS. ANDSF assists UEs todiscover non-3GPP access networks. The ANDSP may include information forevolved packet data gateway (ePDG) selection which is a fourthgeneration (4G) access node.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 800 forwireless communication, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations 800 may be performed by a UE, such asthe UE 120.

The operations 800 begin, at block 802, by selecting at least one policyfor routing of data traffic to a network. The policy may include anANDSP (e.g. for the selection of a non-3GPP access node) if the UE hasthe ANDSP provisioned regardless of whether the UE is registered toevolved packet core (EPC) or fifth-generation core network (5GCN). Forexample, a UE may use an ePDG identifier configuration, a non-3GPPinter-working function (N3IWF) identifier configuration and non-3GPPaccess node selection information from ANDSP to select a non-3GPP accessnode in cases including when the UE is registered to the 5GCN via 3GPPaccess, when the UE is registered to the EPC via 3GPP access and whenthe UE is not registered to any core network (CN) via 3GPP access. Atblock 804, the UE communicates the data traffic to the network based onthe selection.

In other words, given that WLANSP rules in ANDSP for 5GS may beequivalent of WLANSP rules in ANDSF for EPS as described herein, and tomaintain the current behavior of UEs in EPS with regards to accessnetwork discovery and selection without impact by new 5GS policies, a UEmay apply ANDSP for node selection whenever ANDSP is provisionedregardless of the core network to which the UE is registered.

The URSP may be used by the UE to determine how to route outgoingtraffic. Traffic may be routed to an established protocol data unit(PDU) session, may be offloaded to non-3GPP access outside a PDUsession, or may trigger the establishment of a new PDU session. URSPincludes a list of URSP rules, a traffic descriptor used to determine ifeach rule is applicable to outgoing traffic, and a list of routeselection descriptors.

In certain aspects, the route selection descriptors may include a listof parameters to be used for the PDU session. Several of the parametersin the traffic descriptor may be specific to 5GS (e.g., non-IPdescriptors for Ethernet PDU sessions and unstructured PDU sessions,data network name (DNN)). Similarly several parameters in the routeselection descriptor may be specific to 5GS and may not have anequivalent parameter in EPS. Thus, the policy for the routing of thedata traffic described with respect to FIG. 8 may include a URSP only ifthe UE is registered to a 5GCN. For example, the UE may be restricted tousing URSP only when the UE is registered to 5GCN. In otherwords, if theUE is connected over 3GPP access to 5GCN, the policy selected at block802 may include URSP for the routing of the data traffic. On the otherhand, if the UE is connected over 3GPP access to EPC, the policy mayinclude ANDSF for the routing of the data traffic.

In some cases, a UE may be connected to the 5GCN via next generationradio access network (NG-RAN) and the UE may apply URSP for the routingof the data. For example, the UE may apply the URSP due to a newapplication requesting a PDU session or due to a non-3GPP accessbecoming available. The URSP rule may indicate that non-3GPP access ispreferred and maps the session to a certain DNN. The UE may then applyANDSP to select a non-3GPP access node and ends up selecting an ePDG.Thus, the session may be established as a PDN connection over ePDG inEPC.

In certain aspects of the present disclosure, to maintain the legacy UEbehavior for UEs registered to the EPC, the UE may switch to using ANDSFafter applying ANDSP in order to select the ePDG (e.g., a non-3GPPaccess node). For example, if the UE is connected to a 5GCN over 3GPPaccess and has connectivity over non-3GPP access to an EPC via an ePDG,the policy as described with respect to FIG. 8 may include URSP, ANDSP,and ANDSF for the routing of the data traffic over the non-3GPP accessvia the ePDG.

In certain aspects of the present disclosure, the UE may be restrictedfrom performing a node selection after switching to using ANDSF sincethe UE has already selected ePDG. For example, the operations 800described with respect to FIG. 8 may also include selecting the ePDGbased on the ANDSP, where the UE does not perform access node selectionof the ePDG based on the ANDSF after the selection of the ePDG.

In certain aspects, the UE may apply an inter-access point name (APN)routing policy (IARP) to select an access point name (APN) for the PDNconnection, which may be different from the DNN indicated by the URSPrule. For example, the operation 800 may include establishing a PDNconnection for the routing of the data traffic over the ePDG byselecting an APN for the PDN connection based on an IARP.

In some cases, a UE may be out of 3GPP coverage, and thus, neitherconnected to 5GCN nor EPC. However, non-3GPP coverage may be available.Therefore, the UE may select a non-3GPP access node. If the UE appliesANDSF to select the non-3GPP network, the UE may be unable to select aN3IWF since ANDSF does not contain any N3IWF selection information. Onthe other hand, if the UE applies ANDSP, the UE may be able to selectN3IWF and ePDG since ANDSP includes selection information for both N3IWFand ePDG. In certain aspects of the present disclosure, the UE may applyANDSP in this scenario so that the UE is able to select N3IWF and ePDGusing the ANDSP. That is, when the UE is not registered to the 5GCN via3GPP access and is not registered to the EPC via 3GPP access, the UE mayapply ANDSP for non-3GPP access node selection.

In certain aspects, selecting the at least one policy, at block 802 ofFIG. 8, may include selecting a N3IWF based on ANDSP if an ANDSF doesnot include N3IWF selection information and the data is being routedover the selected N3IWF. In certain aspects, the operations 800 may alsoinclude establishing a DNN connection for the routing of the datatraffic over the N3IWF by selecting a DNN based on a URSP rule, asdescribed herein.

In certain aspects, the UE may be connected over a third generationpartnership project (3GPP) access to a 5GCN and have connectivity over anon-3GPP access to an EPC via an ePDG. In this case, the policy mayinclude URSP and the ANDSP for the routing of the data traffic over the3GPP access via the 5GCN and may include ANDSF for the routing of thedata traffic over the non-3GPP access via the ePDG.

In certain aspects, the UE may be connected over 3GPP access to an EPCand have connectivity over a non-3GPP access to a 5GCN via a N3IWF. Inthis case, the policy may include URSP and ANDSP for the routing of thedata traffic over the N3IWF, and ANDSF for the routing of the datatraffic over the 3GPP access to the EPC.

FIG. 9 illustrates a communications device 900 that may include variouscomponents (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components)configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein,such as the operations illustrated in FIG. 8. The communications device900 includes a processing system 914 coupled to a transceiver 911. Thetransceiver 911 is configured to transmit and receive signals for thecommunications device 900 via an antenna 920, such as the various signaldescribed herein. The processing system 914 may be configured to performprocessing functions for the communications device 900, includingprocessing signals received and/or to be transmitted by thecommunications device 900.

The processing system 914 may include a processor 904 which may becoupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 906 via a bus 924. Incertain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory 906 is configuredto store instructions that when executed by processor 904, cause theprocessor 904 to perform the operations illustrated in FIG. 8, or otheroperations for performing the various techniques discussed herein.

In certain aspects, the processing system 914 further includes acommunicating component 901 for performing the operations illustrated atblock 804 in FIG. 8. Additionally, the processing system 914 includes aselection component 908 for performing the operations illustrated atblock 802 in FIG. 8. The communication component 901 may be also beconfigured to establish a PDN connection, as described herein. Thecommunicating component 901 and selection component 908 (e.g., forselecting a policy for routing of data) may be coupled to the processor904 via bus 924. In certain aspects, the communicating component 901 andthe selection component 908 may be hardware circuits. In certainaspects, the communicating component 901 and selection component 908 maybe software components that are executed and run on processor 904.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of itemsrefers to any combination of those items, including single members. Asan example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c,a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples ofthe same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b,b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety ofactions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing,processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in atable, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishingand the like.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. All structural andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects describedthroughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known tothose of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein byreference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover,nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the publicregardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in theclaims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, theelement is recited using the phrase “step for.”

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions.The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s)and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally,where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations mayhave corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components withsimilar numbering.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits describedin connection with the present disclosure may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD),discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration maycomprise a processing system in a wireless node. The processing systemmay be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include anynumber of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system and the overall design constraints.The bus may link together various circuits including a processor,machine-readable media, and a bus interface. The bus interface may beused to connect a network adapter, among other things, to the processingsystem via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement thesignal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a userequipment 120 (see FIG. 1), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display,mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus mayalso link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals,voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which arewell known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/orspecial-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors,microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can executesoftware. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implementthe described functionality for the processing system depending on theparticular application and the overall design constraints imposed on theoverall system.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmittedover as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or anycombination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.Computer-readable media include both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. The processor may beresponsible for managing the bus and general processing, including theexecution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storagemedia. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processorsuch that the processor can read information from, and write informationto, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable mediamay include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data,and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions storedthereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed bythe processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition,the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integratedinto the processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or generalregister files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include,by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (ReadOnly Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, opticaldisks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or anycombination thereof. The machine-readable media may be embodied in acomputer-program product.

A software module may comprise a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media.The computer-readable media may comprise a number of software modules.The software modules include instructions that, when executed by anapparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to performvarious functions. The software modules may include a transmissionmodule and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in asingle storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices.By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a harddrive when a triggering event occurs. During execution of the softwaremodule, the processor may load some of the instructions into cache toincrease access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into ageneral register file for execution by the processor. When referring tothe functionality of a software module below, it will be understood thatsuch functionality is implemented by the processor when executinginstructions from that software module.

Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Forexample, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or otherremote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared(IR), radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, andmicrowave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, asused herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media maycomprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media).In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may comprisetransitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal). Combinations of theabove should also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product forperforming the operations presented herein. For example, such a computerprogram product may comprise a computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions beingexecutable by one or more processors to perform the operations describedherein.

Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other appropriatemeans for performing the methods and techniques described herein can bedownloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or basestation as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to aserver to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methodsdescribed herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein can beprovided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage mediumsuch as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a userterminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods uponcoupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, anyother suitable technique for providing the methods and techniquesdescribed herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the preciseconfiguration and components illustrated above. Various modifications,changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the methods and apparatus described above without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communication by auser-equipment (UE), comprising: selecting at least one policy forrouting of data traffic to a network, wherein the at least one policycomprises an access network discovery and selection policy (ANDSP) ifthe UE has the ANDSP provisioned regardless of whether the UE isregistered to evolved packet core (EPC) or fifth-generation core network(5GCN), and wherein if the UE is connected over a third generationpartnership project (3GPP) access to the 5GCN, the at least one policycomprises a UE routing selection policy (URSP) for the routing of thedata traffic; and communicating the data traffic to the network based onthe selection.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one policyincludes the URSP if the UE is registered to the 5GCN.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein, if the UE is connected over the 3GPP access to the5GCN and has connectivity over a non-3GPP access to the EPC via anevolved packet data gateway (ePDG), the at least one policy includes:the URSP for the routing of the data traffic over the 3GPP access viathe 5GCN; access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) rulesfor the routing of the data traffic over the non-3GPP access via theePDG; and the ANDSP for selecting the ePDG.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein, if the UE is connected over the 3GPP access to the EPC and hasconnectivity over a non-3GPP access to the 5GCN via a non-3GPPinter-working function (N3IWF), the at least one policy includes: theURSP for the routing of the data traffic over the N3IWF; access networkdiscovery and selection function (ANDSF) rules for the routing of thedata traffic over the 3GPP access to the EPC; and the ANDSP forselecting the N3IWF.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein: if the UE isconnected to the 5GCN via a non-3GPP inter-working function (N3IWF), theat least one policy includes the URSP for the routing of the datatraffic via the N3IWF.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein if the UE isconnected to the EPC via an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG), the atleast one policy includes access network discovery and selectionfunction (ANDSF) rules for the routing of the data traffic via the ePDG.7. The method of claim 1, wherein if the UE is connected over the 3GPPaccess to the EPC, the at least one policy includes access networkdiscovery and selection function (ANDSF) rules for the routing of thedata traffic.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein a wireless local areanetwork selection policy (WLANSP) of the ANDSP is the same as the WLANSPof the ANDSF rules.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprisingselecting an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) based on the ANDSP forthe routing of the data traffic, wherein the UE does not perform accessnode selection of the ePDG based on access network discovery andselection function (ANDSF) rules after the selection of the ePDG. 10.The method of claim 9, further comprising establishing a packet datanetwork (PDN) connection for the routing of the data traffic over theePDG by selecting an access point name (APN) for the PDN connectionbased on an inter-APN routing policy (TARP).
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein selecting the at least one policy further comprises selecting anon-3GPP inter-working function (N3IWF) based on the ANDSP if accessnetwork discovery and selection function (ANDSF) rules do not includeN3IWF selection information, wherein the data traffic is routed over theselected N3IWF.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprisingestablishing a data network name (DNN) connection for the routing of thedata traffic over the N3IWF by selecting a DNN based on a URSP rule. 13.The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one policy comprise theANDSP for the selection of a non-3GPP access node if the UE has theANDSP provisioned regardless of whether the UE is registered to the EPCor the 5GCN.
 14. An apparatus for wireless communication by auser-equipment (UE), comprising: a processing system configured toselect at least one policy for routing of data traffic to a network,wherein the at least one policy comprises an access network discoveryand selection policy (ANDSP) if the apparatus has the ANDSP provisionedregardless of whether the apparatus is registered to evolved packet core(EPC) or fifth-generation core network (5GCN), wherein if the UE isconnected over a third generation partnership project (3GPP) access tothe 5GCN, the at least one policy comprises a UE routing selectionpolicy (URSP) for the routing of the data traffic; and a transceiverconfigured to communicate the data traffic to the network based on theselection.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least onepolicy includes the URSP if the apparatus is registered to the 5GCN. 16.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein, if the apparatus is connected overthe 3GPP access to the 5GCN and has connectivity over a non-3GPP accessto the EPC via an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG), the at least onepolicy includes: the URSP for the routing of the data traffic over the3GPP access via the 5GCN; access network discovery and selectionfunction (ANDSF) rules for the routing of the data traffic over thenon-3GPP access via the ePDG; and the ANDSP for selecting the ePDG. 17.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein, if the apparatus is connected overthe 3GPP access to the EPC and has connectivity over a non-3GPP accessto the 5GCN via a non-3GPP inter-working function (N3IWF), the at leastone policy includes: the URSP for the routing of the data traffic overthe N3IWF; access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) rulesfor the routing of the data traffic over the 3GPP access to the EPC; andthe ANDSP for selecting the N3IWF.
 18. The apparatus of claim 14,wherein: if the apparatus is connected to the 5GCN via a non-3GPPinter-working function (N3IWF), the at least one policy includes theURSP for the routing of the data traffic via the N3IWF.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 14, wherein if the apparatus is connected to the EPCvia an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG), the at least one policyincludes access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) rulesfor the routing of the data traffic via the ePDG.
 20. The apparatus ofclaim 14, wherein if the apparatus is connected over the 3GPP access tothe EPC, the at least one policy includes access network discovery andselection function (ANDSF) rules for the routing of the data traffic.21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein a wireless local area networkselection policy (WLANSP) of the ANDSP is the same as the WLANSP of theANDSF rules.
 22. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising selectingan evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) based on the ANDSP for the routingof the data traffic, wherein the apparatus does not perform access nodeselection of the ePDG based on access network discovery and selectionfunction (ANDSF) rules after the selection of the ePDG.
 23. Theapparatus of claim 22, further comprising establishing a packet datanetwork (PDN) connection for the routing of the data traffic over theePDG by selecting an access point name (APN) for the PDN connectionbased on an inter-APN routing policy (IARP).
 24. The apparatus of claim14, wherein selecting the at least one policy further comprisesselecting a non-3GPP inter-working function (N3IWF) based on the ANDSPif access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) rules do notinclude N3IWF selection information, wherein the data traffic is routedover the selected N3IWF.
 25. The apparatus of claim 24, furthercomprising establishing a data network name (DNN) connection for therouting of the data traffic over the N3IWF by selecting a DNN based on aURSP rule.
 26. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least onepolicy comprise the ANDSP for the selection of a non-3GPP access node ifthe apparatus has the ANDSP provisioned regardless of whether theapparatus is registered to the EPC or the 5GCN.
 27. A computer-readablemedium having instructions stored thereon to cause an apparatuscomprising a user-equipment (UE) to: select at least one policy forrouting of data traffic to a network, wherein the at least one policycomprise an access network discovery and selection policy (ANDSP) if theapparatus has the ANDSP provisioned regardless of whether the apparatusis registered to evolved packet core (EPC) or fifth-generation corenetwork (5GCN), wherein if the UE is connected over a third generationpartnership project (3GPP) access to the 5GCN, the at least one policycomprises a UE routing selection policy (URSP) for the routing of thedata traffic; and communicate the data traffic to the network based onthe selection.
 28. An apparatus for wireless communication by auser-equipment (UE), comprising: means for selecting at least one policyfor routing of data traffic to a network, wherein the at least onepolicy comprise an access network discovery and selection policy (ANDSP)if the apparatus has the ANDSP provisioned regardless of whether theapparatus is registered to evolved packet core (EPC) or fifth-generationcore network (5GCN), wherein if the UE is connected over a thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) access to the 5GCN, the at leastone policy comprises a UE routing selection policy (URSP) for therouting of the data traffic; and means for communicating the datatraffic to the network based on the selection.